The Wichita City Council hasn’t officially approved a design-build team for the city’s new $75 million Minor League ballpark, but there’s already been a protest over the recommended group.
On Tuesday, the Council will vote on a selection committee’s recommendation of Kansas City, Mo.-based JE Dunn Construction, which is teaming with Overland Park-based DLR Group and three Wichita companies: Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture, Professional Engineering Consultants and Eby Construction.
At issue in a protest by a competing team is whether the JE Dunn team meets a key requirement to be selected, which is that it has built at least three similar Major or Minor League ballparks. In a Nov. 19 letter to the city’s contract compliance officer, Dondlinger vice president of commercial construction Troy Kapels questioned if the JE Dunn team has built at least three Major or Minor League ballparks.
Kapels, who didn’t return calls for comment, noted in the letter that the city’s request for proposals on the ballpark stipulated that teams “must have experience in the construction” of those professional ballparks.
“Our team requests the City provide documentation to our team that the JE Dunn Construction team met the experience requirements for the complete contracted services of such work,” Kapels wrote, emphasizing words the request for proposal contained.
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